Dark Cherry Semifreddo

July 26, 2011

No ice cream machine is needed for this creamy Dark Cherry Semifreddo! It has an incredible light and airy texture from whipped, cooked egg yolks and is studded with dark sweet cherries.

Oh how cherries abound these days, it makes me such a happy girl. I’m thankful that somehow I escaped the effects that awful childhood cherry medicine has on some people, and frankly, I can’t get enough of them. Rainiers, Bings, and my most recent discovery, Strawberry Cherries, I will take them all! So here is one of my recent cherry celebration dishes, creamy smooth dark cherry semifreddo. It is absolutely heavenly, and if you want, you can add some dark chocolate chunks to point it down the Cherry Garcia direction.

Whisk egg yolks and sugar over a double boiler, until it gets frothy and thick:

Instructions

Set up a double boiler (a heatproof bowl set over a pot with an inch of simmering water), and prepare an ice bath that the bowl can be set into later. Place the egg yolks, cherry liqueur, 1/3 cup sugar, and salt into the bowl. Cook for about 10 minutes, whisking frequently so the egg doesn’t scramble, until the mixture reaches 160 degrees F on an instant read thermometer and is a nice pale yellow color.

Take the egg mixture bowl off the pot and place it into the ice bath to cool.

In a medium bowl using a mixer, whip the heavy cream until frothy. Add in the 3 tbsp sugar and 1 tsp vanilla extract, and whip to soft peaks. Remove the egg custard from the ice bath, and add 1/3 of the whipped cream to it to lighten. Fold in the rest of the cream.

Put the pitted cherries down into the bottom of a glass loaf pan, and pour the custard on top. Cover the top directly with plastic wrap so a skin doesn’t form, and freeze for at least 4 hours. When you’re ready to serve, rub the outside of the pan with a hot towel, then invert onto a plate and slice. Enjoy!